Category: Appraisal News

Coester VMS Surety Bond Claims Exceed Value

December 6, 2018

Coester Surety Bond Claims Exceed Value

Coester VMS Surety Bond Claims Exceed Value… Appraisers licensed in North Carolina received the following email by International Fidelity Insurance Company: Re: Principal: Coestervms Bond No.: TXIFSU0633863 Obligee: NORTH CAROLINA APPRAISAL BOARD Please be advised that International Fidelity Insurance Company (the “Surety”) issued an Appraisal Bond to CoesterVMS (“Coester”). The penal limit of the bond is $25,000.00. This letter will advise you that the Surety has received claims against the above referenced bond in excess of the bond’s penal sum. As a result, the Surety will pay claims on the bond on a pro rata basis according to the amount...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

December 4, 2018

How Zestimate Works

Accuracy is an issue with Zestimates… I happened to find this article, which explains the processes used to generate Zillow’s Zestimate, the estimate of residential property value: Inside the Zestimate: Data Science at Zillow I found it interesting that they use the ‘R’ spreadsheet for doing some number-crunching, not Excel. ‘R’ is what George Dell has been demonstrating in his classes. But the graphs are generated by a different software. Accuracy is an issue with Zestimates, according to Zillow, per the article: “Nationally, the median error rate is 8.3 percent, the company says.” However, they don’t define what ‘error rate’ means. Is...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

December 3, 2018

Hybrid Committee Meeting Recap

The Recap The VREAB Committee meeting on hybrid appraisals met last week. The turnout was a decent one. Some traveled a great distance to attend. There were appraisers, assessors, consumers and trade group representatives in attendance. The meeting started with the Appraisal Foundation Video on Hybrid Appraisals. Public comments followed and many spoke and shared their concerns. Examples of hybrid appraisal products were submitted to the committee. Protecting the public was a key discussion and the following existing Virginia laws and regulations were discussed. 54.1-2009 Definition of appraisal- “Appraisal” means an analysis, opinion, or conclusion relating to the nature, quality,...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

The Erosion of Bank Underwriting Standards. Let's Get Rid of Appraisers.

November 30, 2018

Let’s Get Rid of Appraisers. What Could Go Wrong?

Why would regulators fundamentally weaken bank underwriting standards? Appraisers Warned The World In The Late 1990s And No One Listened. It Is Now Time To Listen Again as History is About to Repeat Itself. There’s a proposal from the FDIC, Federal Reserve, and Treasury Department not to require appraisals for some mortgages under $400,000. The Trump Administration wants to disrupt the role of appraisers, but that’s not a good idea. This change can impact several groups in particular: 1) Consumers: Removing appraisers from transactions can mean a lot of loans get made that shouldn’t be made. Does that sound familiar? We...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Automated Valuation Models / AVM / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

November 29, 2018

Is Mr. Brian Coester Being Honest?

The real question I have is simple: Is Mr. Brian Coester being honest with people, and telling the truth about what REALLY happened? I’m skeptical, but I don’t do business with CoesterVMS. Brian Coester claims “We are not out of business,” as AMC runs into financial difficulty – AMC claims bank made mistake I sure have read lots of first-hand comments from appraisers about either slow pay, or not being paid, for reports completed for CoesterVMS. That makes me highly uncomfortable about accepting any assignment from them, unless they pay the report fee UP FRONT, and they don’t get the report until...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Coester VMS

November 27, 2018

CoesterVMS Surety Bond Cancelled

VaCAP has been forwarded an email from the North Carolina Appraisal Board stating the Surety Bond for Coester VMS has been cancelled. We have not heard anything from Virginia or any other state, but will update you as new developments arise. From: NCAppraisal Board ncappraisalboard@ncab.org Sent: Monday, November 26, 2018 11:24 AM Subject: Bond Claims against CoesterVMS The surety bond holder for CoesterVMS, IFIC, has notified the Appraisal Board that Coester requested the bond to be cancelled. The effective date of the cancellation is February 16, 2019. The bond number is TXIFSU0633863. A scan of the original bond is attached. Note...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

November 26, 2018

Open Letter to Taxpayers

An Open Letter to Taxpayers Dear Ms; Mrs. & Mr. Taxpayer: In a recent article published by Housing Wire; authored by Ben Lane (November 20, 2018) it was reported that our federal “regulators” are at it again. “At what?” One might ask. Facilitation of increased LOAN FRAUD & consumer deception with Taxpayers yet again left holding the bag. Click here for the article Back in 1994 (actually it started in 1989-91 when FIRREA was being drafted) the Fed agreed that the loan threshold for banks when an appraisal of real estate would not be required was $250,000. That was roughly...

AGA / AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations

November 23, 2018

Proposal to End Appraisal Requirement

Regulators’ Proposal to End Appraisal Requirement on Some Home Sales of $400,000 and Below… The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve released a proposal that would increase the appraisal requirement from $250,000 to $400,000, meaning that certain home sales of $400,000 and below would no longer require an appraisal. According to data provided by the FDIC, the agencies estimate that increasing the appraisal threshold from $250,000 to $400,000 would have exempted an additional 214,000 residential mortgages at regulated institutions from the agencies’ appraisal requirement in...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / FDIC / ICAP

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November 21, 2018

Coester VMS Bank Accounts Seized!

VaCAP has been informed the bank accounts of CoesterVMS have been seized. We have received the following email from one of our members. From: *****@coesterappraisals.com> To: Sent: Tue, Nov 20, 2018 10:02 am Subject: CoesterVMS: Accounts Recievables** -I am e-mailing to provide clarity on a letter you may receive from FVC Bank sent by Gilbert Kennedy and Patrick Gil from Shapiro Sher. The letter was sent to provide instructions on account receivables and the proper way of handling them for CoesterVMS as of 11/14/2018. Immediately both Patrick and Gill will be your point of contact for any questions or concerns...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

November 20, 2018

Is It Possible to “Prove” an Adjustment?

We read articles and advertisements on how to prove an adjustment. Is this possible? How wonderful it would be. To prove an adjustment, just push a button and bam! Out comes the correct answer. How could we have we missed this? …prove an adjustment, just push a button…Of course, if such a simplistic and exact answer was possible – anyone could push that button. An AVM run, a BPO agent, an “evaluator”, or anyone else. Who needs all that USPAP competence and integrity stuff? Even a lender-appointed hybridized “field inspector” could just push the button. The whole process could even skip working with the licensed appraiser completely!...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / AQB / Automated Valuation Models / AVM